Mahomet eBook

“Allah Akbar! truly when I light upon the coasts
of any people, woe unto them in that day.”

Then he assembled all his men and put the sacred eagle
standard at their head, the white standard with the
black eagle embossed, wrought out of the cloak of
his wife, Ayesha. He bade them lead the assault
upon Kamuss and spare nothing until it should fall
to them. In the carnage that followed Marhab,
chief of Kheibar, was slain, and at length the Jews
were beaten back with terrible loss. There was
now no hope left: the fortress Kamuss must fall,
and with it the last resistance of the Jews. Their
houses, goods, and women were seized, their lands confiscated.
Kinana, the chief who had dared to try and originate
a coalition previously against Mahomet, was tortured
by the burning brand and put to death, while Safia,
his seventeen year old bride, passed tranquilly into
the hands of the conqueror. Mahomet married her
and she was content, indeed rejoiced at this sudden
change; for, according to legend, she had dreamed
that such honour should befall her.

But all the women of the Jews were not so complacent,
and in Zeinab, sister of Marhab, burned all the fierceness
and lust for revenge of which the proud Hebrew spirit
is capable. She would smite this plunderer of
her nation, though it might be by treacherous means.
Had he not betrayed her kindred far more terribly
upon the bloody slaughter ground of the Koreitza?
She prepared for his pleasure a young kid, dressed
it with care, and placed it before him. In the
shoulder she put the most effective poison she knew,
and the rest of the meat she polluted also. When
Mahomet came to the partaking he took his favourite
morsel, the shoulder, and set it to his lips.
Instantly he realised the tainted flavour. He
cried to his companions:

“This meat telleth me it is poisoned; eat ye
not of it.”

But it was too late to save two of the Faithful, who
had swallowed mouthfuls of it. They died in tortures
a few hours afterwards. Mahomet himself was not
immune from its poison. He had himself bled at
once, and immediate evil was averted. But he
felt the effects of it ever after, and attributed
not a little of his later exhaustion to the poisoned
meats he had eaten in Kheibar. The woman was
put to death horribly, and the Muslim army hastened
to depart from the ill-omened place.

They returned to Medina after several months absence,
and there the spoil was divided. The land as
usual was given out to Muslim followers, or the Jews
were allowed to keep their holdings, provided they
paid half the produce as tribute to Mahomet.
Half the conquered territory, however, was reserved
exclusively for the Prophet, constituting a sort of
crown domain, whence he drew revenues and profit.
Thus was temporal wealth continually employed to strengthen
his spiritual kingdom and put his faith upon an unassailable
foundation.